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Suarez v Aguero: Which striker is better?

They are both Premier League strikers of the highest calibre who have each started the season in sparkling form – and both have attracted the attention of Real Madrid.

But who out of Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero is the better striker? First, the statistics: ManchesterCity’s Aguero has hit 13 goals in 14 appearances so far this season, a strike rate of 0.92 goals per game.

Suarez, meanwhile, has scored eight in seven, equating to a strike-rate of 1.14 goals per game. So in terms of finishing, the Liverpool man has been marginally the more lethal striker.

That is backed up by the fact that, according to Premier League statistics, Aguero has missed seven key chances, while Suarez has spurned only two, a vast improvement in his finishing.

And football is, of course, about more than goals, and strikers are increasingly required to do more than just put the ball in the net. Interestingly, the statistics also show that Aguero has contributed six assists so far this season, while Suarez has made just one.

That is perhaps indicative of two things: that Aguero us a fine ‘all-round’ player, equally capable of setting up goals as well as scoring them, and also that Suarez has changed his game since last season. Where once he was the man laying on the goals, he is now the man scoring them.

So those are the stats, with Suarez’s superior strike-rate proving that, in terms of goals per game, the Uruguayan international has been superior to his Argentine counterpart.

There are, of course, other strands to the argument: while Suarez picked up a whopping 11 bookings last season and famously earned a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, at the end of campaign, Aguero picked up only two yellow cards in the whole season.

Talent is one thing, but staying on the pitch to produce it is another, and in terms of temperament Aguero edges out the Liverpool man.